Monday, April 24, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – As the regular season winds down for the conference’s diamond sports, performances that led teams to key series sweeps lead the list of the GNAC Player of the Week award winners.

Central Washington junior Sam Lauderdale was named the Baseball Player of the Week after he hit .500 to lead the Wildcats to a four-game sweep of Northwest Nazarene, going 7 for 14 with a double, two triples, a home run, four runs scored and six RBIs. Lauderdale went 2 for 3 in Friday’s second game, a 5-2 win, with a two-run homer. He went 2 for 4 in both of Saturday’s victories, which included a two-run single in the opener.

Montana State Billings sophomore Jackson Betancourt earned Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors after going the distance in the Yellowjackets’ 3-1 win over Saint Martin’s on Saturday en route to the four-game sweep. He allowed one unearned run on four hits with three strikeouts to improve to 3-5 on the season.

Western Washington swept the softball weekly honors after taking a critical four-game neutral-site sweep against Montana State Billings. Junior Isabel Cargill was named the Softball Player of the Week after she batted .600 in the series, going 9 for 15 with two doubles, a run scored and two RBIs. Cargill went 3 for 4 with a two-RBI double in Saturday’s 4-2 opening-game win and went 4 for 4 with a run scored in the 7-3 second-game win. She had hits in each of Sunday’s games, which included a double in the opener.

Senior Mareena Ramirez was selected as the Softball Pitcher of the Week after winning both of her starts, allowing just seven hits and striking out 12 over 14 innings. Ramirez allowed two unearned runs on four hits with four strikeouts to win Saturday’s opener 4-2. She came back in Sunday’s opener to allow just three hits and a walk while striking out four in the 2-0 victory.

Northwest Nazarene scored two of the four weekly track and field awards with performances against a primarily Division I field at the BYU Robison Invitational. Sophomore Steven Schmidt collected Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors after taking second in the decathlon with a score of 6,910 points that set the NNU school record, ranks 10th in Division II and sixth on the GNAC all-time list. Schmidt won the high jump, pole vault and javelin, placed second in the 1,500 meters and was third in the long jump, shot put, 110-meter hurdles and the discus.

Senior Abbey Wood was named the Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after setting the NNU record in the 100 meters, running 11.93 seconds in the preliminaries. The second-fastest time in the heats, the time ranks No. 10 on the GNAC all-time list. Wood went on to place seventh in the finals and ninth in the 200 meters.

Seattle Pacific junior Emily Thomason earned Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors after she won the pole vault at the CWU Wildcat Invitational with a clearance of 12 feet, 4 inches. Thomason cleared the final two heights on 12 feet and 12 feet, 4 inches on her final attempt. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark is tied for 34th in Division II this season and No. 8 on the GNAC all-time list.

Central Washington senior Austin Albertin was named the Men’s Track Athlete of the Week after he won the 400-meter hurdles at the CWU Wildcat Invitational with a GNAC-leading time of 53.54 seconds. Albertin also ran legs on the Wildcats’ winning 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams.

GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS – WEEK 35
BASEBALL PLAYER
Sam Lauderdale (Central Washington, OF, 6-2, Jr., Vancouver, Wash. – Tacoma CC): Lauderdale led the Wildcats to a four-game sweep of Northwest Nazarene with a .500 batting average, going 7 for 14 with a double, two triples, a home run, four runs scored and six RBIs. Lauderdale went 1 for 3 with bases-loaded walk and an RBI triple in the 7-6 opening-game win on Friday before going 2 for 3 in the 5-2 second-game win with a two-run homer. He opened Saturday by going 2 for 4 in the opener with a two-run single in the 5-2 win before going 2 for 4 in the nightcap in the 10-6 win in the finale. Also Nominated: Payton Flynn (Montana State Billings), Mark Steward (Saint Martin’s).

BASEBALL PITCHER
Jackson Betancourt (Montana State Billings, P, 6-1, So., San Diego, Calif. – Mira Mesa): Betancourt went the distance in the Yellowjackets’ 3-1 win over Saint Martin’s on Saturday, allowing one unearned run on four hits with three strikeouts. The victory allowed Betancourt to improve to 3-5 on the season. Also Nominated: Daniel Charron (Central Washington), Finley Butler (Saint Martin’s), Arturo Alvarez (Western Oregon).

SOFTBALL PLAYER
Isabel Cargill (Western Washington, OF, 5-4, Jr., Tracy, Calif. – Idaho State Univ.): Cargill batted .600 for the Vikings in their four-game sweep of Montana State Billings, going 9 for 15 with two doubles, a run scored and two RBIs. Cargill opened the series on Saturday by going 3 for 4 with a two-RBI double in the 4-2 opening-game win before going 4 for 4 with a run scored in the 7-3 win in the nightcap. She had a hit in each of Sunday’s wins, which included a double in the opener. Also Nominated: Sidney Booth (Northwest Nazarene), Britney Patrick (Saint Martin’s).

SOFTBALL PITCHER
Mareena Ramirez (Western Washington, P, 5-4, Sr., Maple Valley, Wash. – Idaho State Univ.): Ramirez won both of her starts against Montana State Billings, allowing just seven hits and striking out 12 in 14 innings. Ramirez allowed two unearned runs on four hits with four strikeouts to win Saturday’s opener 4-2. She opened Sunday’s twinbill by allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out four in the 2-0 victory. Also Nominated: Sidney Booth (Northwest Nazarene), Chloe Leverington (Saint Martin’s).

MEN’S TRACK
Austin Albertin (Central Washington, Sr., Finley, Wash. – Kennewick): Albertin was the winner in the 400-meter hurdles at the CWU Wildcat Open by over two seconds. His winning time of 53.54 seconds leads the conference by almost a second and just missed the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 53.32 seconds. Albertin also ran legs on the Wildcats’ winning 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams.  Also Nominated: Logan Straus (Montana State Billings), Brian Le (Western Washington).

MEN’S FIELD
Steven Schmidt (Northwest Nazarene, So., Battle Ground, Wash. – Battle Ground): Schmidt set the NNU record and moved to No. 6 on the GNAC all-time list in the decathlon, placing second at the BYU Robison Invitational with a score of 6,910 points. Schmidt won the high jump (6-7.25), pole vault (15-11) and the javelin (173-9), took second in the 1,500 meters (4:58.72) and took third in the long jump, shot put, 110-meter hurdles and the discus. Also Nominated: Collin Sample (Alaska Anchorage), Branden Wise (Central Washington), Forrest Cross (Montana State Billings), Trent Kibler (Western Washington).

WOMEN’S TRACK
Abbey Wood (Northwest Nazarene, Sr., Ontario, Ore. – George Fox Univ.): Wood set the NNU record in the 100 meters and moved into No. 10 on the GNAC all-time list with her performance at the BYU Robison Invitational. Running against an almost fully Division I field, Wood was second in the preliminaries in a time of 11.93 seconds to surpass the previous NNU record of 11.95 set by Taylor Deskins in 2016. Woods went on to finish seventh in the final in 12.01 seconds and ninth in the 200 meters in 24.12 seconds.  Also Nominated: Juliette Williams (Central Washington), Mya Richardson (Montana State Billings), Caitlyn Cheney (Western Washington).

WOMEN’S FIELD
Emily Thomason (Seattle Pacific, Jr., Gold Hill, Ore. – Lane CC): In just her second meet for the Falcons, Thomason won the pole vault at the CWU Wildcat Invitational with a clearance of 12 feet, 4 inches. The NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark ties her for 34th in Division II this season and ties her for eighth on the GNAC all-time list. Thomason made her clearances at both 12 feet and 12 feet, 4 inches on her final attempt.  Also Nominated: Erica Cabanos (Central Washington), Kendall Lynn (Montana State Billings), Katie Potts (Western Washington).